By DARRELL SMITH, Sacramento Bee

Seasonal hiring could look a lot like it did last year, with almost a third of employers expecting to beef up staffing as they try to gauge consumers' confidence heading into the holiday shopping season.

A new California law barring most employers from using pre-employment credit checks in hiring could remove another hurdle to work for jobless people in the state.

Assembly Bill 22, authored by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, would put the brakes on most employee credit checks. California becomes the seventh state in the nation to enact such a law.

Richard Bolles has counseled job seekers for a generation. His influential job search guide "What Color Is Your Parachute?" has helped millions find work.

As millions more struggle with the Great Recession's grip, Bolles released last week the 40th anniversary edition of the bestseller with a message for beleaguered job seekers.

They owed thousands of dollars to the Internal Revenue Service, but the lady in the TV commercials assured them that for a few thousand more she could get the tax man off their backs.

In what it called a "bold move" to cut health care costs, Blue Shield of California said Tuesday it would cap profits at 2 percent of revenue and pump any extra cash back into credits for customers, funding to care providers and grant awards to nonprofits that provide health care to poor Californians.

Georgia and Nevada are the nation's leaders in startup businesses, followed by California, Louisiana and Colorado, according to a new report released this week.

Demand for tech jobs is strong, but salaries remain flat, according to an annual survey just released by technology career website Dice.com.

U.S. technology professionals saw their wages rise roughly 1 percent in 2010 -- to $79,384 from $78,845 -- about the same increase reported in 2009, according to the survey.

Older workers are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. work force, according to the federal Administration on Aging, but they also face unprecedented challenges in today's job market.

That's the backdrop for National Employ Older Workers Week, which runs through Saturday.

Companies are swarming to social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, hoping to boost their brands, connect with customers and even find new employees.

An award-winning venture by a UC Davis student team could turn a public health pariah into a potential hero, using tobacco plants to develop vaccines in weeks instead of months.